“This Is the Whole Meaning of the Law, Pointing to That Great and Last Sacrifice”

Brant Gardner

Rhetoric: Amulek assumes that, whatever else this people might believe, they continue to respect the Mosaic law. This assumption also underlines Alma and Amulek’s quotations from the brass-plates scripture. Had these people been completely apostate, the scriptures would have had no authority with them. Amulek is now comparing Mosaic sacrifice with the Messiah’s infinite sacrifice. Animal sacrifice symbolizes that infinite sacrifice, with the difference being that, in the communal rite, a single sacrifice atoned a people, not a person.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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